The present invention relates generally to the field of children""s activity toys and in particular to a new and useful paint tray activity desk for reducing messes associated with paints and being easier to clean after use.
Watercolor paints are a source of enjoyment and creativity for children in particular. Watercolor paints are good for use by children because they usually do not require more than washing with water or wiping with a damp cloth to clean a child who deposits some of the paint on their body instead of a sheet of paper or other suitable substrate.
But, watercolors can still be messy. A cup or other container of water is usually needed to dip a brush in to both activate a watercolor paint pigment and clean brush for use with a different color. Thus, the container can be tipped and spilled, or drips will occur as the brush is moved from the water to the paints and to the substrate.
Activity toys or sets for children sometimes include paints. One known activity toy including paints is a paint-by-numbers kit. U.S. Pat. No. 4,416,632 describes one such paint-by-numbers kit having a plurality of paints in aligned recesses of a tray in combination with substrate bearing a line drawing picture. The tray includes a shelf with printed numbers on one side; each number identifies one of the paints. The picture has corresponding printed numbers indicating which one of the paints is used to color an area of the picture. A single brush is provided with the kit for depositing the paints on the picture. The tray includes two cradle holders extending from the shelf for holding the brush.
Paint-by-numbers kits like that of U.S. Pat. No. 4,416,632 do not include any support for the substrate bearing the line drawing picture. Further, as is usual for these kits, neither of the paint tray nor the water container disclosed by the patent include structure for catching water drips or spills. It is common to spread newspapers or other protective layers of paper below the substrate to prevent messes or damage from spilled paints.
Other painting toy sets simply include a tray of watercolor paint pigments in solid form within indentations on the tray. Some paint sets include a brush with the paint tray. To use the paints, the brush is wetted in water, and used to activate the pigments in one or more of the trays. Color is picked up on the brush, and used to paint on a sheet of paper or other substrate. The brush is cleaned by dipping in water. Typically, only one brush having a plurality of elongated bristles bound in a cylinder is provided in such paint sets.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,318,171 discloses a watercolor paint kit having several brushes of varying sizes, a paint block holder containing several blocks of paint pigment, and a water tray. The kit is provided as a case which can be folded closed for carrying. The brushes are provided for wetting on a cover sponge of the water tray, contacting one or more of the paint blocks to pick up color, and then making a painting on a suitable substrate. The brushes are formed from blades covered by a layer of foam. The brushes are sized so that a different number of the paint blocks is contacted at once by each of the brushes, thereby picking up one or multiple colors, depending on the brush width.
The kit of U.S. Pat. No. 5,318,171 does not include a substrate, or any area for holding a substrate, being painted. The paint blocks can be separated from the adhesive holding them in their respective slots for replacing, but the paint block holder and the water tray are both fixed in the kit and are not removable. Thus, to clean the holders in the kit, the entire case must be cleaned at once.
It is desirable to have an activity kit which includes a workspace that helps prevent water and paint from dripping or spilling onto other surfaces. No children""s activity kits are known which include a mess prevention workspace or an easily cleaned workspace, as well as holders for paints, brushes and water.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a self-contained paint tray kit for reducing messes and making cleanup after use easier.
Yet another object of the invention is to provide a children""s activity desk having a mess prevention workspace integrated with tool and material supply holders.
A further object of the invention is to provide an easily cleaned art activity desk having removable tool and supply holders combined with a workspace.
Another object of the invention is to provide a paint tray kit which forms a unitary work space area, but is easily separable into component parts for cleaning or storage.
Accordingly, a children""s paint tray activity desk of the invention has a base tray with distinct areas for removable tool and supply holders, and a workspace. The workspace holds a piece of paper or other suitable substrate for applying watercolor paints to make a picture. The workspace is surrounded by a channel, or moat, inside the tray. The sides of the workspace are designed to permit excess water to naturally drain from the workspace into the channel. The workspace may be sloped slightly toward drain holes in the workspace sides to encourage water to drain into the channel.
The tool and supply holders include a water reservoir, a paint tray and a drip tray. Each of the tool and supply holders has a handle extending over the top with slots for receiving brushes, squeegees, rollers, sponge brushes, or other painting tools. One or more of the brushes, squeegees, rollers, sponge brushes or other tools are provided with the activity desk. The brush and tool handles may each have a groove for mating with the holder handle slots and making a more secure fit.
The base tray is preferably unitary, but may be separable into one section containing the removable tool and supply holders, and a second section with the workspace and surrounding channel. In this embodiment, the sections are preferably locked together during use to form a single activity desk. Separable embodiments of the base tray are more easily stored or carried on car trips while providing the same benefits of the unitary tray construction when assembled.
In an alternate configuration of the activity desk, only a paint holder and water supply reservoir are removably held in recesses in the base tray. A workspace is provided adjacent the paint holder and water reservoir recesses, with a channel around the front and one side of the workspace.
In a further alternate construction, the base tray has a ridged lip surrounding a flat, level workspace, but no drain. The ridged lip contains the excess water until the base tray is cleaned. The tool and supply holders may be supported in an integral portion of the base tray or a detachable second section.
Many different brushes and other paint applicators are available for use with the invention. Brushes include conventional bristle brushes, sponge brushes of different shapes and texture, squeegee brushes, or wiper blades, and rollers may all be used with the activity desk of the invention. The brushes are sized to have different widths, so that a varying number of colors of paint will be picked up when a wet brush is rubbed on the aligned paint blocks in the paint holder. For example, some brushes may be one paint block wide, while others may be two, three, four or more paint blocks wide.
The paint blocks of the invention are supported within the paint holder with the lower surface of the paint blocks held above the bottom of the paint holder. The spacing improves the life of the paint blocks, as excess water used to activate the paint blocks does not erode the block bottoms. The paint blocks are preferably removable from the paint holder for cleaning or rearranging the color order. The paint blocks are removably supported directly by the paint holder or are supported in individual cartridges removably connected with the paint holder.
When using wider brushes with the invention, a child can make rainbow type pictures with multiple colors at once on a paper held in the workspace. Plaid patterns are easily made using wider brushes to paint intersecting lines of multiple colors. At the same time, excess water is kept almost entirely within the confines of the activity desk by the base tray walls, the channel or moat around the workspace, and the contiguous water reservoir, paint holders and drip tray. The child has no need to pass the brush over any area other than the activity desk and its components.
Cleaning the activity desk is easy, as the water reservoir, paint holders and drip tray are all removable from the base tray, so that they can be emptied into a sink or other drain without having to lift the entire tray at once. Further, the paint blocks can be lifted from the paint holder to even more easily clean the paint holder and also extend the life of the paints. The components can be individually washed, if desired, and then replaced in their recesses in the tray.
The various features of novelty which characterize the invention are pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this disclosure. For a better understanding of the invention, its operating advantages and specific objects attained by its uses, reference is made to the accompanying drawings and descriptive matter in which a preferred embodiment of the invention is illustrated.